穆罕奈德：我在義烏開了“我家餐廳”

王金帥 郎擎宇

穆罕奈德的浙江足跡

穆罕奈德是2002年來到浙江義烏的。

“2002年，朋友告訴我義烏有一個市場，很多外國人要到那邊做外貿(mào)。我借了錢，在義烏開了第一家阿拉伯餐廳，差不多兩三年就慢慢地把生意打理好了。” 穆罕奈德不但漢語說得不差，還有一副“熱心腸”，所以在彼時的阿拉伯商人圈中，這家餐廳成了接待客商洽談生意的好去處。

10多年來，他把原汁原味的阿拉伯飲食文化帶到義烏，也在義烏的繁榮興旺中收獲了事業(yè)和愛情。他的兒子劉飛翔和劉義飛也在浙江出生，“浙江讓我夢想成真，在這里我實現(xiàn)了我的中國夢。”

讓穆罕奈德廣為人知的是這件事——2014年，習近平主席在中阿合作論壇第六屆部長級會議開幕式上的講話中談到一個故事：“在阿拉伯商人云集的義烏市，一位名叫穆罕奈德的約旦商人開了一家地道的阿拉伯餐館。他把原汁原味的阿拉伯飲食文化帶到了義烏，也在義烏的繁榮興旺中收獲了事業(yè)成功，最終同中國姑娘喜結(jié)連理，把根扎在了中國。一個普通阿拉伯青年人，把自己的人生夢想融入中國百姓追求幸福的中國夢中，執(zhí)著奮斗，演繹了出彩人生，也詮釋了中國夢和阿拉伯夢的完美結(jié)合。”

2018年，穆罕奈德的新餐廳開業(yè)，取名為“貝迪餐廳”，中文意為“我家餐廳”，大家來了餐廳就是到了家里、都是家人。

Ta眼里的浙江

穆罕奈德看義烏的城市變化很實際：“以前是矮房，路也很窄，出租車也沒有，現(xiàn)在全部是高樓。” 近年來，隨著“一帶一路”倡議的提出與發(fā)展，作為倡議支點城市的義烏，每年都會吸引超過50萬人次的境外客商來到這座有著“世界小商品之都”之稱的小城采購商品，進行貿(mào)易往來。

穆罕奈德說，自己事業(yè)的發(fā)展還與近年義烏政府為外籍人士提供的個性化服務(wù)密切相關(guān)。“義烏政府不‘小氣，你遇到了什么事，政府就會幫助你。隔段時間，政府就請各國商會負責人開會，問問最近遇到的麻煩。我們提過的子女教育、醫(yī)療等問題現(xiàn)在都解決了。”

在他看來，在“一帶一路”倡議之下，義烏用上述友好態(tài)度成就著外國商人，而更多外國人前來“掘金”也助力義烏經(jīng)濟持續(xù)保持繁榮。

“中國是我妻子和兩個兒子的祖國，是我的第二故鄉(xiāng)，我希望一輩子和我的家人生活在中國。”穆罕奈德說。身為“新義烏人”的穆罕奈德也享受著“一帶一路”帶來的許多紅利，不僅餐廳規(guī)模越來越大，還積極投身到當?shù)氐纳鐣卫碇校群螳@得“西湖友誼獎”“商城友誼獎”等諸多獎項。

“火車會經(jīng)過‘一帶一路沿線的很多國家，越來越多的非洲人、歐洲人到義烏來采購、做生意。我們要找平安的地方工作、生活，有了安全、穩(wěn)定的環(huán)境，我們的生活、生意才會越來越好。現(xiàn)在我們餐廳多了許多其他國家的客人，今后的生意會越來越好。”

對于未來，他充滿期待。

Seventeen years have elapsed since Mohanad Shalabi started his restaurant business in Yiwu， Zhejiang. In 2002， he learned from friends that many international traders gravitated toward a huge marketplace in Yiwu. Mohanad Shalabi borrowed some money， arrived in Yiwu， and started an Arabic restaurant there. In two years， his restaurant had a firm Arab clientele from the international community in Yiwu. The restaurant became a magnet for Arabian people in Yiwu and many met there to talk business as Mohanad Shalabi speaks Chinese fluently and is highly hospitable.

Mohanad Shalabi presents authentic Arab cuisine in Yiwu. He is married to a Chinese woman and now the couple has two sons born in Zhejiang. In 2018， he expanded his business and opened a much bigger Arabic restaurant. He has won some awards such as West Lake Friendship Prize for his contribution to Yiwu. “It is in Zhejiang that my dream comes true and I have achieved my Chinese Dream，” enthuses the Jordanian restaurateur.

President Xi Jinping mentioned Mohanad Shalabis story at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in June 2014. “The rapid development of relations between China and Arab countries drew their peoples together，” Xi remarked. “There is a Jordanian， Mohanad Shalabi， in Yiwu where Arabic businesspeople congregate. He set up an Arabic restaurant， and prospered along with the city. He has since married a Chinese woman and settled in China. An ordinary young Arab， weaving his dream of life into the Chinese Dream of pursuing happiness， eventually reached success through hard work. This is the best example of the Chinese Dream meeting the Arabic Dream.”

In Yiwu， Mohanad Shalabi has witnessed tremendous changes at close hand. “Once upon time， the buildings were low， the roads were narrow and there was no taxi. Now tall buildings are everywhere，” says Mohanad Shalabi. Yiwu attracts 500，000 foreign businesspeople to visit the worlds capital of household commodities. Muhannad explains that the local governments individualized service has helped his business. “The government is generous. It comes to our help whenever we have problems. The government holds meetings at regular intervals to ask leaders of international chambers of commerce what the government can do to solve our problems. Issues such as education for our children and medical care are all solved.”

Mohanad Shalabi strongly supports Chinas Belt & Road Initiative as Yiwu is a key city in the initiative. Now cargo trains regularly go all the way from Yiwu to Europe. More and more people from Africa and Europe come to visit Yiwu and buy. “China is the mother country of my wife and two sons. And it is my second home country. I hope I can live in China with my family all my life. We want to live and do business in peace and stability. It is in peace and stability that we can live well and our business can be better. Nowadays our restaurant has many customers from other countries. And our business will be better in the future.”

From 2013 to 2018， the import and export between Zhejiang and the countries and regions along the Belt and Road amounted to 4.3388 trillion yuan. In the same period， the inbound investment from the Belt & Road countries and regions amounted to 3.39 billion US dollars whereas the outbound investment from Zhejiang to the Belt & Road countries and regions numbered 28 billion yuan. At present， businesses from Zhejiang operate 10 economic and trade zones in the countries and regions along the Belt and Road. The total investment into the 10 zones amounted to 5.5 billion USD and created more than 60，000 jobs in host countries and regions.